keith morrison (voiceover): little colusa california was dumbstruck. paul moore?rested for the killing of roberto ayala? few even knew he was a suspect. >>> pul moore, arrested for the killing? few even knew he was a suspect. mary, paul's cousin and pete's sister, got a barrage of texts at work. >> it was bittersweet. there was a part of me that was relieved that it was over for pete or that he wasn't, you know, mixed in with it. and at the same time i was sad because it was my cousin that we grew up with, you know, and it was part of my family. >> my youngest sister mary called me on the phone and she said, they just arrested paul for the murder of robert ayala. and i was in the middle of the parking lot, and i fell to my knees and just started screaming. >> reporter: but human nature is a funny thing. suspicion once embedded is remarkably resistant to actual evidence that might disprove it. when paul moore was arrested and charged with the murder of roberto ayala, his cousin peter began to experience that particular phenomenon quite personally. around town peopl

keith morrison with "dark valley". >> there was a kind of peace here, in chosen exile, vast pacific forompany. how else to live with what's impossible to understand or forget? what began that sunny afternoon far away in southern california, san fernando valley, early may, 2012. >> something was really wrong, but a lot were wrong than i could imagine. >> reporter: it was the boy who knew at first, knew something was wrong. his dad was supposed to take him to school that morning. but after school -- >> i was to go to school and pick him up after basketball practice. when i showed up, he said, daddy didn't pick me up this morning. i said, what? he said, daddy didn't pick me up this morning. >> reporter: busy family, the boy got to school some other way >> he said he called a friend from around the corner. >> reporter: or sometimes things fall apart. >> the situation sounded too crazy, love affairs, drug dealers, too outlandish. >> reporter: once those stable loving pieces have blown apart, how do they come together again? >> somebody is going to walk away from this who maybe you wish wasn'

here's keith morrison with "poison." >> it was september 11th, 2001. just about everyone knows where they were that awful day. like the glamorous trio that was traveling north through california's yosemite national park. even as the rest of the world's attention was focused on new york city, they were intent on their own urgent needs, their desires, their fears, their deadly love triangle. so they probably didn't appreciate the passing wonders, the astonishing cliffs, the waterfalls, the giant sequoias any more than the one in the back seat, through fading eyes, saw anything at all. here is one of them. his name was larry mcnabney, and he was a tall, handsome man, a well-known and respebltcted attorney from nevada, a personal injury specialist, made buckets of moisture, loved the big life, loved being in control. >> there was never a hair out of place. there wasn't dust on his desk. his pen was always in the same spot. >> larry's daughter tavia was crazy about him, in awe of his type "a" personality, his joy of life, his courtroom presence. >> not an o

here's keith morrison with "the women & dirty john." ♪ >> reporter: in the beginning was desire, naturaluman desire for connection, for love. and so she aimed her arrow at that online ocean of intimate strangers and found -- him. >> newport beach 911. do you need police fire or paramedics? >> hi. i need an ambulance right away and the police. >> reporter: it was summertime when the awful climax came. a late afternoon, a marmalade sun beating down on the parking lot of a rental apartment complex in newport beach, california. that's when they heard it. >> and she says this woman's just screaming. >> all right. >> whole complex must have heard it, terrified, howling, desperate. >> is she ok? >> reporter: there was a man down there, they could see him. he had a knife. he was stabbing the screaming woman and nobody was helping her. >> it's really bad -- >> all right. i understand. we have officers on the way. >> too late. too late. >> oh, the ambulance is here. they're doing cpr on somebody. >> the bloody ending. but the story, the whole terrible tale, is much deeper than that one thing, drea

here again is keith morrison. conspiracy." >> reporter: after two years of relentless police work, tom dove's investigation of the murder of jack jessee had generated enough evidence to fill this mail cart. all apparently for naught. the suspect and his key to cracking the case had skipped the state, and detective dove's jurisdiction. >> we were so close. >> reporter: the jessee family sensed dove had been beaten and sandra jessee had won. had gotten away with murder. >> i put his pictures away. i couldn't -- it's tough. because he was so -- he was so fantastic. >> put his pictures away? >> i had to. it just was too much. >> couldn't look at them? >> i couldn't look at them. >> reporter: at the dove home, tom's wife patty began to worry about her husband's health. >> he tends to hold things in. you can't hold in that kind of frustration and emotion without starting to affect you. with that kind of stress, it takes a toll on them physically and mentally. >> that's what you worry about? >> uh-huh, exactly what i wor

here's keith morrison with "secrets on the emerald coast." >> reporter: what a nest of puzzles. happened to marie carlson, where did she go? or did she go anywhere? what about grace, the baby she left behind? who, for example, was the father? churches tend to be beehives of gossip, so the detectives asked around. >> she had a boyfriend, was involved in an abusive relationship, she was beat up. >> reporter: this is a member of the cavalry emerald coast church. >> she found out she was pregnant. and she didn't want to go back to the guy, and didn't want to keep the child. >> reporter: in other words, she was going to have an abortion. but pastor flanders and his wife had strong views about abortion. and when they discovered her situation, they offered to help solve her dilemma. >> they were gonna adopt the baby. >> reporter: the flanders had an older daughter, always wanted another child. but one miscarriage after another. and so, as this church elder told the detectives, the pastor and his wife came to an arrangement with marie. >> she would stay three months to nurse the baby an

here again is keith morrison with "secrets in the mist." >> deputy d.a.win and the cold case team believed mike lubahn killed his wife carol back in 1981, but they had one big problem. they couldn't prove carol was dead. >> the biggest assumption is going to be how do you know she wasn't across the country or changed her identity? >> kind of an important question with no answer. >> and then in january 2011, jim wallace got the flu. lucky break -- no, really. >> and i was lying in bed, and my wife came in. unfortunately when you work these cases, all you talk about about we are a dedicated cold case team. you talk about the case you're working on. i'm sure she was tired of hearing about it. she said, why don't you establish a facebook account for carol. i thought, that could accomplish a great deal. >> of course, back in 1981 when carol disappeared, facebook creator mark zuckerberg wasn't even born yet. but 30 years later, detective wallace knew social media and its potential to connect to millions around the globe instantly. it could determine once and fo

here's keith morrison with "black friday." >>> a hot august night in texas, 2014, the lone figure knew where to go, knew where the store kept the cash. grabbed $18,000, and was gone. but it was only money. and no one got hurt. not that time, anyway. the story begins here in ft. worth, texas, which turned out to be the perfect growing up place for a rough and tumble, free spirit named ashlea harris. >> i was around 10 when she was born and so the perfect age to pretend she was my baby. >> reporter: melissa hill is ashlea's eldest sister. >> she marched to the -- a beat of a different drum. she would wear just things that did not match. her hair was just -- didn't seem combed, you know. >> reporter: she was never the little princess type? >> no. no. >> reporter: there were three girls in the family. ashlea was the baby. their mom, monica, remembers how ashlea loved sports and music and art and bingo! >> it was our mom and daughter bonding time, and she'd just get all giddy and excited. >> reporter: by the time she got to high school, ashlea had lots of friends, even a boyfriend. and she

keith morrison (voiceover): who ever heard of such a thing?plus a diagram ♪ >>> who ever heard of such a thing? letters from a purported killer, plus a diagram of what certainly looked like the actual bomb that killed roberto ayala. was it real? a ruse? a lucky guess? if it was for real, who sent it? was it from the lead suspect, peter moore? or a hit man as the letter claimed, or was it from somebody who wasn't even on detective salm's radar? whoever it was, five weeks into the case it was the only lead investigators had. they played along with the guy, placed an ad as requested in "the sacramento bee." and sure enough, somebody responded. cops rushed to see him, perhaps arrest him. >> he was pretty surprised when he got a visit. >> false alarm. it was just an unlucky guy looking for a job. the killer, though? the killer never called. so the whole ms 13 thing, the mexico deal gone wrong was just some sort of game. the real bomber was playing it. the trouble was, nobody knew the rules or the purpose or where the game might end. more than one w

here's keith morrison with "while they were sleeping". >> it was cold the night the full moon rose, desert cold. in the moonlight, silver pale, wind worried the gray ends of the grass, whistled past the unlocked door. something evil afoot, something here inside where the moon peered into the window, into the master broor master bedroom, a little after 3:00 in the morning. >> really dead. >> what's really dead? >> my husband. >> strange the things that happen to people. who was who? >> this is a case built on lies and deception and cat and mouse. who knew what it was. >> but the story when it began in 2005 was about love. or what certainly felt like it. in fact fair to say it was two kinds of love. there was what happened to ben when he met melissa. >> as soon as he met melissa, it was something i'd never seen, just for no reason he'd call her and say i love you. >> changed man. >> absolutely. >> he was happy, melissa made the difference. >> if anybody would know, his best friends would, cindy and scott graham. >> ben was family. >> ben's other love, brightest thing in his life, one good th

keith morrison: they're going back to the place where ashlea worked? yes, sir.is cravey: they were going after tens of thousands of dollars. natalie morales: but was money the only motive? or was there something else? there were a lot of rumors going around that ended up being true. chris cravey: i couldn't believe that somebody